Instead, the bill became the subject of numerous last-minute meetings and discussions, ultimately pushing it into the summer break.

David Brogan, first vice president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said while he had hoped for quicker passage, he understands why the bill is taking so long.

"It's a very difficult and highly technical bill, so something of this nature is not going to simply go through without any issues," he said.

Lesniak said he doesn't expect the latest delay to have much of a material impact on projects that would seek to take advantage of the incentives in the bill.

"These projects, for the most part, don't have a drop-dead date," he said. "Obviously if it goes on for too long, people will start looking elsewhere, but as long as there's light at the end of the tunnel, I don't expect that any delay of this nature will have any impact."

Brogan said he agrees with Lesniak, but added "we also have to consider the opportunity cost for any delay," saying as long as the program isn't in place, there's a potential for the state to lose out.

Brogan said he's hopeful the bill will cross the finish line during the week of July 8. He said doing so is in line with Senate President Stephen Sweeney's (D-West Deptford) stated goal of creating jobs.

"This is a great way to do that," he said. "If you're going to focus on jobs, then we should be getting this bill passed and signed."